WPP unveils three-year turnaround plan

The WPP of the future will have fewer companies; a structure more focused on what clients want rather than off-the-shelf offerings; and be more heavily invested in creativity, tech and talent. The holding company will also have a slimmed-down workforce. WPP expects to reduce jobs by 2,500 over three years from its current global count of 134,000 people. And there is a new holding company logo to top it all off.

The holding company unveiled its turnaround plan to investors and analysts on Tuesday in London and announced its intention to become a "creative transformation" company as it tries to address its underperformance. WPP says it will invest an incremental 15 million a year in creative leadership in each of the next three years, with a particular focus on the U.S.

WPP CEO Mark Read said the new positioning has already helped the holding company notch new business, including Volkswagen's creative account in North America. Read was joined by other WPP leaders and clients in discussing its plans to strengthen its offerings in the areas of communications, experience, commerce and technology. The goal is to simplify a holding company that has become "too unwieldy, with too much duplication," WPP said in a statement.